Necrophilia
by Ushinatta Neko
Summary: — meant that the person was sexually attracted to a corpse. Len Kagamine used to find those people weird, but he can't really speak for himself now, can he? After all, he was the one who fell in love with a corpse turned Shinto shrine maiden, who now served under a goddess. Also, said corpse was revived by his younger self. Len Kagamine had to be a necrophiliac. [LenKu, slow burn]
1. Chapter 0 - To Die

_A/N: If you have not noticed — I deleted most of my multi-chapter fanfictions. I'm sorry, but I don't have the motivation/inspiration to continue writing for them anymore. I'm a person who runs on passion, and when that fizzes off, I just can't do that something anymore. I could force myself to write, but I'm sure no one wants to read a forced work. They come out bad. _

_I'm only keeping the one I actually really like (**Pandora's Box**). From now on, I am only going to have two multi-chapters running at any one time. Don't expect more, because then I'll get lazy and run out of inspiration again. I might, however, re-upload them if, AND ONLY IF, I get inspiration again. _

_But don't worry :) I won't abandon this story. I've drawn out the plot, so I can finish this Japanese Mythology idea. :3_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid, nor any Japanese gods/goddesses. **

* * *

It was a sunny autumn morning when he first saw her.

It was those kind of mornings, where the sun would cast its light gently (unlike summer, which he hated) and the slightly cold wind picked up red and yellow leaves to blow them away to who-knows-where, those kind of mornings he liked, those kind of mornings he knew that something special was going to happen.

And something special did happen. Or, in this case, that something special came shipped in ribbon-tied pigtails and layered dresses.

_Class, _his (thirty, single, living on cigarettes and sushi) teacher had introduced, _this is Hatsune Miku. She'll be in our class from today onwards, so I do expect you to treat her nicely. Make sure she settles in. _It was then followed with a threatening smile that spoke volumes of how this woman — _teacher —_ did not trust a single rowdy child in this elementary class.

So of course the children chorused an unwilling _Yes _and he followed half-heartedly, chin cupped in his left hand. His teacher nudged the small transfer student in front, urging in hushed whispers for the little girl to introduce herself.

(Frankly, he thought it was stupid for introductions, since all you needed to say was your name and the teachers always said it for the students.)

"I'm Hatsune Miku and I like leeks," she had acquiesced, with a bright little smile that would, in adults' terms, warm the hearts of those who saw it. Such a bright and innocent smile would bring any cold-hearted man on his knees.

Once he saw that he was convinced.

His new seatmate was nothing special.

Over the few weeks she spent in the dreary thirty square-feet classroom, Hatsune Miku had slowly but surely integrated herself into the class' social circles. Slipped in like a crafty snake, like all new students do, he sometimes thought when he let his mind wander. Really, the girl was so ordinary, so boring, he wondered how he even managed to acknowledge her existence the few times she talked to him.

She didn't interact with him a lot. No one did. He was a kind of loner in class, because no one dared to approach him. Nice on the eyes but hard to strike up a conversation with; that was the kind of people Kagamines were. The whole family gave off a natural vibe of I-Am-Too-Good-To-Talk-To-You-Go-Away, and he had accepted it over time. Sure, when he was younger he tried to make friends, but it all slipped away like sand in an hourglass as he grew up, realized that every single thing that came out his mouth passed off as "awkward, non-understandable and arrogant".

His sister tried too, but she came out with better, far better results than he did: _she _came off as "elegant, mature and high-class", so at least she had some worshippers. He wondered what the difference was; what did his sister have that he didn't? Perhaps the fact that she landed in a better class than him.

He had to admit that maybe, his intelligence was lacking (not that he would ever tell his sister; she'll just rub it in his face). He was always the top of his class, but his sister was always the top of the school. They were so different it hurt when he heard people comparing them.

But he was used to them: the comparisons, the sneers, the smugness of his father and the disappointment of his mother, the always-there whispers. Then again he grew used to things quickly, like how the girl beside him kept kicking her table when she couldn't solve a problem, which caused _his _table to shake, and how the normally occupied seat beside him grew cold and empty as the season changed into warm spring.

Spring was supposed to bring forth new beginnings and new lives, so it was rather ironic that he was standing here beside her pitch-black coffin in his pitch-black clothes. She looked rather peaceful (nothing like the bloody mess she was when they brought her in, apparently), eyes slid shut and hands clasped on her chest, almost as if she was asleep — that she was, in an eternal sleep no one could possibly wake her up from. Her skin was pale translucent beige, so that it showed the blue-green crossroads of veins on her hands that had long stopped pumping blood.

There were so many flowers around her it looked as if she was lying in a meadow, sleeping; only that her cheeks were no longer rosy and her chest was no longer rising. She looked so calm, so unlike her usual cheerful self, that his cheeks flushed slightly (because of the warmth, because of the warmth) as he took in her features.

After lying down his flower for her, he spent minutes debating what that thump-thump-thumping in his chest and the butterflies in his stomach were. After consulting his sister, who scrunched her face up in disgust, he realized that he had a crush on her. No, not technically her.

He was crushing on a lifeless corpse.

That was rather stupid for a first crush, because dead people couldn't be revived, so he tried to squash down that feeling. If that was who — no, what his first crush was, it was very disappointing and mentally retarded. A seven-year-old child with the mentality of a hundred-year-old was crushing on a corpse. The world would stop spinning on its axis if that were to happen, and since he told his sister, who would definitely tell his mother, she would a) freak out, b) pass out, c) send him to a doctor, or d) all of the above.

But that still didn't exactly deter him from visiting the shrine of a god whose name he couldn't be bothered to remember. "I wish there was some way I could make my crush come true," he mumbled and clapped his hands together, bowing in front of the altar. Nothing happened. Not that he was waiting for something to happen, so he turned his back and was walking out when something stopped him.

In the shrine, incense always burned, the sweet suffocating smell assaulting his nose when he stepped in. But here, the smell was stronger, the waft of jasmines thrown in occasionally. Just as he turned back to the altar to see what happened, some invisible power bound him to the ground, such that he could not even move a single muscle.

"So you wish to revive the girl?" A soft female voice sounded, and he could only stare, barely making out the shape of a woman in the dying light of the evening. The sound of a wooden geta scraping against the cement ground had him wincing inside, and the mysterious woman stepped out from the shadows. Her light pink hair was long and wound up on the ground, yet not a speck of dirt was visible on her long tresses. Her kimono was exquisitely beautiful, flowers entwined with fire, some burning in the fire, and some flying out of reach. A black haori draped over her shoulders, draping on the ground smoothly as she walked towards him.

"You wish to revive the girl?" Her voice was louder this time as she was nearer, and he could hear the deep echoing quality of her voice that made her seem reachable yet unreachable. She raised a hand and gestured, "Speak."

"I simply do not want my first crush to be a corpse," he managed out, his eyes holding the woman's blue ones bravely. The mysterious woman chuckled, and raised a hand to cover her mouth. "You're an interesting child," she told him, and inclined her head towards him. "As long as she is not a corpse, it is fine? Therefore it is fine even if I do not revive her? There is a price to pay for bringing a soul back, however."

He nodded, unsure of what the woman meant and acknowledging that there will be a price. What else could a corpse be? And of course, to have something, you need to pay up something else. Everyone knew that. That was the way of life.

Another echoing laugh sounded, this time darker. The smell of jasmines assaulted his senses again, and the woman melted back into the shadows, laughing all the while. "Such an interesting child. I have not met a human this interesting since I stayed in the underworld," he heard her laugh out, and saw her wave her hand. Black spots began dancing in front of his eyes, but he still managed to stutter out his question, "Who are you?"

"I, child, am the goddess you call Izanami."

* * *

_Izanami is the goddess of creation and death (from Wikipedia lol). Pretty obvious who she is, BTW. _

_This is pretty much the longest prologue I've ever written =w= _

_Reviews make me happy. :D _


	2. Chapter 1 - To See I

_A/N: Yay, an update. I'll update **Pandora's Box **after this, I promise. Like..two weeks later haha. School's starting hnggh. Can't believe I'm already a senior haha._

_Thanks to who reviewed before!_

* * *

Rin hadn't questioned him about why or how she found him on a bench near the shrine. He was grateful for that, because he certainly didn't want worried and annoyed parents hounding him every minute of the day, all for a self-proclaimed goddess he wasn't even sure he should trust.

And it was a good thing he didn't know whether to trust _Izanami _because it was definitely not disappointment he felt the next day. The seat next to him was still cold and empty, the flowers on the desk still as beautiful and graceful as ever, so it was definitely not disappointment, because Kagamines were never ever hopeful for something, only to find it crushed easily like a bug.

It was definitely not hope that he felt dissipate day after day, year after year, when no mousy haired girl let herself into her seat and smiled brightly (not at him, not at him).

It was just cold hard expectation as he checked out one brown haired girl after another and smirked off mocks from his _friends_.

(—but then at the end of it all, wasn't it just the same thing?)

=-x-=

.

.

.

=-x-=

Red and yellow leaves fluttered down to the ground, layering the ground in more bright autumn colors. The wind was cold and biting against his face and neck as he trudged to school. Autumn was here again, with its harsh breezes and messy leaves. He wished that autumn could just skip forward to summer, the season he liked best, with bright suns and azure blue skies that beckoned not sad memories but nice ones.

Leaves crunched under his feet as he stomped discreetly on the ground, feeling rather vicious this morning for some reason. Rin shot him a look (_Stop that you barmy idiot_) and heaved her bag further up her shoulder, ignoring the admiring looks she got from her fellow students who had gathered near the gate like usual. What did these students think of them, he wondered as he followed begrudgingly after his sister, of the Kagamine twins who were oh-so-unapproachable and _cool_ except for the very rich?

"There's a new transfer student in your class today," Rin interrupted his thoughts, her words roughly translated as _I hope you don't cause any troubles for me today, Len Kagamine_. He nodded, eyes already drifting to the cloudy skies outside. The clouds were swollen and greyish-purple, indicating certain rain in the afternoon or later. (Did he bring an umbrella?)

"I have a Student Council Meeting to attend to, so go home yourself. If you didn't bring an umbrella, walk home in the rain. It's your own fault; Father has always told us to be ready for anything," Rin continued, somehow answering his question (twin telepathy really wasn't very surprising when experienced first-hand). She turned her back with a sharp snap of her heels and was about to walk off when she paused, straight hair hanging forward like a sunny yellow curtain. He hung back, waiting for his sister to continue speaking — lecturing him further, most probably.

"...there are spare umbrellas outside the Meeting Room, just so you know," was all she said before hurrying forward to her locker, shiny black Mary Janes clacking on the floor. Rin changed her shoes with an impossibly fast speed while he was still in shock of what she said, and before he knew it, she had straightened her back and face, "Are you coming or not?"

His lips curved upwards at his sister's back.

Well. Rin Kagamine was not so unapproachable and cold after all.

He slid into his seat, mind calm and afresh with his re-evaluated opinion of his sister, eyes still drawn to the purple cotton balls outside, so it was a rude shock when he looked back at the whiteboard and found a brown-haired teenager standing there. (Rude, very rude, but it didn't mean that it wasn't appreciated.) She stared down at the sitting students whispering to each other and smiled cheerily as if she didn't find them impolite, her bob-cut brown hair brushing against her pale freckled face.

"Quiet!" His (male) homeroom teacher slammed both of his hands down on the wooden table, which creaked ominously, and the class immediately shut up. "I want absolutely no interruptions as the transfer student introduces herself. Zero. Zilch. Nada. This is Meiko Sakine, and please go ahead, Sakine." He then turned to the tall student standing ram-rod straight and smiled (or tried to — it was quite hard when you had a couple of knocked-out teeth). The girl smiled back, and Len had to give her credit for not grimacing, and faced to class before bowing.

"My name is Meiko Sakine. I look forward to being friends with all of you, so please take care of me!"

Meiko Sakine (not the girl he was looking for, not the girl) was a girl who tall for her age. He had no doubt that she would easily surpass his height when they stood together. And even though her chestnut brown hair was so much like a certain girl's, her eyes were a shade too maroon. Besides, her name was different, so he dismissed any thoughts of similarity as she sat down beside him.

(But names can be changed and contact lenses can be deceiving, can't they?)

"My name is Meiko! Nice to meet you, er..." She held out her hand for him, maroon eyes shining as though expecting him to answer with his name and a similar greeting. Which he didn't, obviously. He was not obliged to make friends with the transfer student, after all; he was only expected not to stir up any trouble. (Was she or was she not the girl he had known and fallen in love with?) Sensing his silent rejection, the girl slowly retracted her hand, but still kept up the silly smile on her face. "Well! Some people don't like being too forward, so that's okay! Each to his own, each to his own!"

Already the class was gossiping about his frostiness and warm acceptance of the transfer student.

=-x-=

Class was normal and the same as always, even with the added body heat next to him. There were simply more whispers floating around the classroom, still talking about the interaction, or lack of, between Meiko Sakine and Len Kagamine. Normally, the teacher would have slammed his hands on the table and barked at them to "zip their nasty little mouths", but rain was already pouring down, beating hard against the windowpanes, and smothering all noises, so the teacher simply continued rambling.

A pale white hand imprinted itself on the windowpane and passed through the glass as if it was air, and he started in surprise at the spirit's sudden appearance before relaxing. An arm followed the hand, then a head of raven black hair, then the rest of the body after that. "I'll have you know that I was out there for such a long time that I'm soaked, yeah," the spirit spoke as soon as his feet were through the window. He stood in front of Len's table, misty body blurring the view of the still teaching teacher, and crossed his arms.

_I don't see a single rain drop on you, _Len told him, _and I doubt you can get caught in the rain anyway. _The spirit broke out into a smile at his comeback and ruffled his hair. To outsiders, it would merely appear as if a slight wind had messed up his flaxen hair, but not wanting to take chances that the wind was too strong, Len told the spirit to stop it.

Rei was the closest he had to a best friend. His only friend, even, who was a spirit. His mother always told him to make more friends, but she would never have guessed that his friend was not of the mortal world. He had died from a car crash that left his left face bloody and left arm twisted in a grotesque angle. It was alright to look at him, actually, if one didn't focus on the left side of his body, even if that took practice. The spirit used to be good-looking with his honey amber eyes and high cheekbones, from what Len could gather from the unmarked side of his face and what Rei always told him.

Rei always seemed to speak with a lisp (not that his friend was gay or anything, because he had heard that gays spoke with a lisp, and anyway, if his friend was a gay he would have known) and had shrewd fingers that could conjure a pack of cards or a drink out of nowhere. The spirit was a very jolly ghost who cracked jokes about his own speech impediment, but sometimes he caught the spirit staring at cherry blossoms with a somber look. He never asked and Rei never told.

Even though they were friends, they kept their pasts hidden away from each other, because them meeting was completely an accident. He had almost gone on a bus that a terrorist was going to bomb, and _poof! _the ghost appeared and stopped him. They stuck together after that. He sometimes wondered if that was how friends were supposed to be, hiding secrets from each other, then decided that he didn't care, since the normal labels of _friends with another human _didn't exactly define their strange relationship. As long as Rei was there he was a friend.

"Anyway, I've asked — as always, you know — and no, no ghosties by the name of Miku Hatsune today either," Rei shot him a look (which he ignored) and floated slightly to his right, where Meiko was staring intensely at the teacher, and stared down.

"New seatmate? I expect you want nothing to do with her, anyway. But she sure has a nice chest. Too bad I'm taken." The spirit eyed the girl's bosom for a while, before floating away absentmindedly to the front of the class, where he pulled roses and fake jewellery from his pocket and started sticking them into the teacher's hair.

After completing his mission, Rei floated back and admired his handiwork. It was an almost daily thing to play a prank on the teacher, because 1) no one could see him and the items he fished out, 2) it was fun, and 3) why not? The teacher was an ugly thing with two lost teeth from a fight in the teenage days, so it was absolutely hilarious to decorate him with girly things like a doll. Len almost smiled at the sight of the muscular man, with a rose twisted behind his ear and jewel-tipped clips on his hair.

Beside him, the transfer student coughed inconspicuously.

"When is class ending? I want to eat something." Rei had floated back and was now halfway through the windowpane, his lower body dangling outside. _Can you not do that? It's disgusting. _Len glared at the spirit, and his friend sighed, "You're no fun at all, Len."

_Also, I doubt you can eat anything from the cafeteria. Do spirits even have stomachs? _Once his words were out he knew he had said the wrong thing. Mentioning anything inside of a spirit was a taboo because no one wanted to be reminded of how empty they were. Sure enough, Rei's already pale face turned even paler, to the point of looking green. _Sorry, I just felt a little irritated today. _

Rei recovered quickly, shooting him a forgiving smile. "It's okay. Irritated? Why though?" The spirit's interest was quickly pointed to another topic (or maybe he wanted to talk about something else). Len shrugged as an answer and continued staring at the rain outside. The spirit's eyes turned sly and he eyed the girl seating beside him. "Oooo, I know. It's because of her, isn't it? You've finally fallen in love with another person? Ooooo."

The effect was almost instantaneous. He shot upright and glared at Rei, who put his hands up in front of him in defense. _That was low. Extremely low, Rei. _The words were almost hissed out, and Rei floated backwards, passing through the student in front (who shivered but didn't know why). "Right. I won't mention that again. Count me on that, bro." It was a taboo too, to talk about Len liking someone else. He was sure Rei never knew why, but the spirit must have had a sneaking suspicion that it had something to do with Miku Hatsune.

He didn't talk to Rei after that, even though the spirit apologized over and over again. The spirit then vanished after Len was unmoving towards his fifth apology, muttering something about _young love _and he didn't see Rei for the rest of classes. No doubt the spirit was waiting for his anger to simmer down, but his temper and irritation remained high and constant, much like the continually pounding rain that was giving him a headache now.

He had hoped that the rain would abate after a whole day of school, but it didn't seem to be lessening at all, if the ever growing puddles in front of the school was any indication. Resigned to his fate, he headed for the Meeting Room, where Rin had told him umbrellas were waiting. Sure enough, a couple of colourful umbrellas were neatly placed there, with a sign that read _For rainy days. Please return after use _beside. He picked up the closest one and stared at the ridiculous pink flower on the cloth before bending down and replacing that with a more respectable umbrella.

He could hear voices from the Meeting room, so he would go ahead without Rin today then. It wasn't as if they talked on the way to and fro, so having Rin beside him and not having her beside was...the same.

He did wish that Rei was beside, fishing out a ghostly rabbit or something from his pockets, just to lighten the heavy mood set by the rain.

Too bad he was still angry at the spirit for even mentioning that he might like someone else.

With the umbrella in hand, he headed for the direction of home.

* * *

_This chapter felt so short, didn't it? :/ _

_And don't worry, Miku will appear...Soon...I hope..._

_As always, review/constructive criticism make me happy :D _


	3. Chapter 2 - To See II

_A/N: I'M BACK FROM MY HIATUS! :D Actually I still have one more exam to go but that one's pretty easy and I finished this chapter so why not? =w= _

_When I'm brainstorming on the plot, my mind keeps going towards the action path and not the romance path .-. and it's kind of annoying honestly. _

_Enjoy! _

* * *

The puddles along the road grew bigger steadily as the rain came down hard.

He didn't really mind rain. Rain was cleansing, was made of clear droplets that could caress cheeks and kiss skin. But adults always had this notion that rain was the one that made people sick, was the one that brought calamity along with a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder. He didn't know if it was true, but he hated how people liked to associate rain with death.

(even though it rained when she died)

=-x-=

.

.

.

=-x-=

The rain continued pouring without any sign of letting up. The thudding sound of rain on umbrella and the sound of his sloshing shoes mixed up a disorderly cacophony that accompanied him on the small winding road lined with _sakaki _shrubs. Contrary to the noise made on wet plastic, the rain that danced unto the fresh green leaves burst out a twinkling sound, almost musical to hear. The _sakaki _leaves were still a fresh green, even when the deciduous trees around them began shedding their fall leaves in preparation for winter, and the green stood out brightly from the oranges and reds. The plants' berries were a deep red, almost black, almost ready to ripen.

He reached down to pluck a round berry from its branch, and rolled it between his fingers, watching the red glint in the faint light. He would never understand why his father suddenly called for the planting of these shrubs when all of his former years he gave no heed to the plants that grew around their estate. Shrugging, he tossed the berry behind his shoulder.

A bush moved and a hurried whisper floated up.

"Well then, see you soon."

He twisted around, curious to see who had trespassed his family's grounds. Was it a secret rendezvous? It was a mistake to use this little hill then; clearly these people had no idea whom these grounds belonged to. How exciting, his heart pounded, to catch them in their trespassing act and turn them over to his father! Father would (most likely) mind and might even praise him a few words. He walked closer to where he heard the whisper coming from, wet leaves crunching under his feet.

But it was just his sister.

Her pale face was flushed with red, like an apple. Her neatly brushed hair was everywhere, golden strands out of place here and there. But it was her eyes that struck him the most. Her blue eyes were twinkling with something he had never seen before, something he would not associate her with, something he had no idea was. They were swimming with excitement and other emotions, yet when she raised her head to find him looking at her, a look of absolute shock and fear passed over her face, quickly transforming the warm red of her skin into pallid yellow. She clearly did not expect him to be here, and it showed on her face for the first time. That shock told Len everything: that she was up to no good, that she _had _been at a secret rendezvous, and that he should tell their father.

The horrified look on her face faded away just as quickly as it came, and he found himself engaged in a staring match with his sister. Even though the fear was not apparent on her face, it showed clearly in her eyes. He never noticed that his sister had such expressive eyes, the deep blue almost swimming in terror. Maybe because it was the first time he looked at her face properly, and not at the floor. When he blinked, she flinched, the same look of fear starting to creep across her expression again.

He immediately turned his heel to continue his way back home, more hurried now that he had something to tell their father. Rin moved in a split second, reaching out for his arm. He was watching out of the corner of his eye when he realized she didn't grab his arm. It seemed that she had hesitated in her actions, and that was what made him stop.

From the time he could remember his sister had never hesitated. When she had lied to their parents about his location the night of her death she didn't even blink an eye. When she gave her campaigning speech she was eloquent and her speech was fluid. When she beat up the delinquents who had underestimated her black belt title the fight was over in seconds. So it was strange that she stopped, unsure of her actions, and he stopped too, his back still on her.

"Are you going to tell Father?" Her voice overpowered the sound of rain on his umbrella, still calm and steady even though he guessed her mind was a state of panic. He would never be able to compose himself like his sister, and that sudden spite made him speak out harshly.

"Of course I am. What will he say when he realizes what his _favourite, dear, _daughter is up to?"

He could hear the sound of leaves under her feet as she stepped closer towards him. A pale hand came upon his shoulder, electrifying his senses. Her hand was cold in the low temperature of autumn and the rain, but it was the unabashed physical contact that surprised him more. "Do you," her voice was low and dangerous now that she had composed her nerves properly, "even know what you are going to do?"

"Yes," he snarled, shoving her hand away from his shoulder. It was also then that he realized she wasn't carrying an umbrella and was drenched, and the brotherly love inside him almost, _almost _wanted to stop this and give her his umbrella. But he kept pushing his limits. The curiosity of knowing her secret sizzled inside him. "What do you think you're doing, having a secret rendezvous right here?"

"A rendezvous?" Her voice was mocking, almost a laugh.

He turned around at that, not expecting to see the sudden death-like calmness descend on her. Her eyes were cool and indifferent again, a clear contrast against her voice before. He realized he had said the wrong words. She had realized that he knew nothing of what had happened, and he had unexpectedly exposed that. Her mind was at peace now that she knew her stupid little brother was as in the dark as any other person on Earth, and that calmness showed on her face and in her eyes.

She strode away, blonde hair fluttering in the wind, furiously triumphant, and he could only follow after her.

Like he always did.

=-x-=

.

.

.

=-x-=

The normally dark living room was illuminated by ghostly glows when they stepped in.

Len frowned, not at all appeased with the sight of unwelcomed visitors floating about in his house. The burning annoyance at the spirits, coupled with the earlier humiliation he received from his sister, made him glare furiously at the spirits individually, making sure they could feel his anger radiating off him in waves. Sure enough, the nearest spirit (an old man who died from over-drinking) backed away in alarm, followed soon by other spirits.

But his intimidation was quickly forgotten (as expected of wandering spirits, after all) and the spirits started floating about again, passing through walls to enter different parts of the house. However, the remaining three continued to sweep along the floors of the living room, and he hissed internally, not really looking forward to walking beside them, or even _through _them. Walking through spirits was a chilly thing to experience, especially spirits that died a violent death. The hatred of their deaths that led to coldness in their hearts was not a particularly pleasant thing to feel.

He scrutinized the spirits in the living room, and was glad that none of them appeared to have died with too much regret and burden. Steeling himself for the inevitable, he stepped away from the wooden oak door that was the entrance of his house, but Rin beat him to it. In the few minutes his eyes adjusted to the dim lights, she had already slipped her shoes off and arranged them neatly.

The rainwater ran down her legs in rivulets and created wet puddles on the floor as she walked, skirting around the furniture in the living room to reach the stairs.

Len blinked.

"Rin you..." His voice hitched in surprise, and his sister turned, a frown marring her features.

"What?" Her voice was freezing cold, making him almost miss the nice persona from this morning, even though he was more used to her nonchalant attitude. He blinked again, not sure if what he had stumbled upon earlier was making him commit philosophical fallacies, was making him jump to conclusions, and a freezing look from his waiting sister made him ultimately decide that he was.

"You need to clean that sopping floor dry. I refuse to step in one of those disgusting puddles that you have stepped in." Sarcasm came naturally to him, and he used that to lie. Rin's eyes softened slightly, but she still shot an insult back. "Then don't. You can just walk around them. It's not as if you don't have legs."

"I do hope that you didn't; then you don't have to leave dirty puddles here and there."

The sarcastic insults they exchanged with each other were strangely comforting.

=-x-=

.

.

.

=-x-=

Rei walked about in the school absentmindedly. He noted that only five hours had passed since he left Len's side, which meant he better stay for a few more, lest Len was still angry when he got back. Really, that child was too bothersome and selfish. He sighed, and decided to float up a level. It was time to explore the left wing of the school more thoroughly. He floated up, fingers touching and reaching through the ceiling, and in no time at all, found himself on the second floor of the left wing.

The school Len and his tsun-tsun sister (Rin, was it?) attended was quite big for a neighbourhood school, surrounded by nature and hills all around. The building was divided into two wings, left and right, and each wing was used for different purposes. The right wing was for classrooms and other educational purposes, and was _extremely boring. _Students who entered the right wing came out with dead expressions commonly associated with the drilling of lectures (and even Len had that expression sometimes). The left wing, however, was built entirely for recreational purposes, and Rei had never gone there before (because stupid lame boring Len had never seen a purpose of staying back after school for awesome cool fun activities).

So there he was, basking in the cheery sounds of after-school activities. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to hover near the ceiling, so that no one would walk through him (it was equally painful for spirits, he found out one day when Len accidentally stuck his hand through his ghostly form and the warmth seeped out — leaving him cold and aching and _murderous _— and the hand left and Len apologized and he forgave). The left wing was boisterous compared to the right, and Rei found himself musing over why he never did this. He never realized how much he missed after-school activities until now, when the hustle-bustle wormed its way into his heart (did he even have one? he supposed he did now) and jumped up and down, an ache in his chest.

Rei jerked, wearily blinking his eyes open when he realized he had accidentally floated upwards too much, and he was now on the subtly quieter third floor —the floor for arts. There was no choir of voices here; only the musical sounds of instruments bounced around, a sound he enjoyed less than the bustle on the second floor. The lack of voices made the corridor feel empty, emptiness he couldn't shake. Just when he prepared to dive back, the sight of familiar pink hair made his chest ache, and Rei doubled over, kneeling on the floor, his stomach twisting and turning into itself. A clatter of textbooks, a gasp of his name in that voice _he knew so, so well, _and he dived back down, face pale.

He didn't want to see her face, not now. Not now when the Gathering was so close, not now when he had finally garnered Len's trust, not now. If he saw her now he would break down and forgo his contract and would sweep her away to Never-ever Land where they could be together for all eternity.

But he was a spirit, dead, and she was a human, alive, and they shouldn't be together.


	4. Chapter 3 - To See III

_A/N: I am not deaaaaaaaaad. I'll update other stuff soon too. ...Come to think of it even though it's the holidays I haven't been very active..._

* * *

One floor above Rei, Aria breathed.

The breath slid down her windpipe and rattled in her chest, a horrific reminder that she was still alive but Rei wasn't.

_even though it should have been the other way around —_

Her heart was racing, pounding in her ribcage like it was never going to be stopped, but she needed to collect her nerves. The textbooks were still lying in a mess on the floor, and she bent down to pick them up, deliberately going slow to calm her mind. It was impossible that he was still around (even if it was as a spirit) because after all, didn't Izanami-no-Mikoto-sama promise her that she would not touch Rei? Didn't she? (But she knew somewhere in her heart that promises could be broken and gods were adept liars.)

_liar liar pants on fire —_

"Sensei?" Her student's quiet voice (quiet because she knew Aria had to think) reminded her that she was there and she had _seen._ Another pair of hands began to help, speeding up the process (but she would really, rather not want the help). In no time at all, the textbooks were in a pile in Aria's hands, and she looked up to smile shakily at the girl looking at her.

"Thank you, Miku."

The girl nodded, features fixed emphatically, her dark blue hair swinging in time. "Anytime."

=-x-=

.

.

.

=-x-=

"Who was that?" After waiting for about an eternity for the dreaded question, Miku finally dropped the bomb. Her eyes glinted with curiosity and she skipped ahead, balancing two-dozen textbooks in one hand. Sometimes Aria forgot how strong her friend/student/fellow _Miko_/fellow _undead _was, compared to herself, and it...frightened her.

(frightened her

— knowing what that power was used for

— knowing where the power came from

— knowing the source of that power was just as powerful)

_scary. scary scary scary scary easy kill scary scary horrible blood scary — _

"Aria!" She was on the floor, weight on her stomach, a girl on top of her (a monster on top of her, a killer on top of her) — she blinked. A face came into focus — black hair golden eyes — she blinked again. The light shifted and a face with softer cheeks and teal blue eyes replaced the previous face. This face was worried, muscles under the eyes twitching in an effort to not cry. She opened her mouth to rasp out a _I'm okay _but an invisible pressure closed around her throat and she thrashed, limbs flailing about in fear.

(it reminded her horribly of how she died)

Her right hand connected with something solid and she pushed with all her force. Both the weight on her stomach and the invisible pressure disappeared, replaced with something that was a mixture of a yelp and a cry, then the faint rustling of clothes, followed by a huge smack that could only come from colliding with the wall, and a last cry of _freaking hell_.

"What the _heck_ Aria!" Aria struggled up, leaning on her elbows as she found a cursing Miku. A slim hand had sneaked its way to her nose, red and sore, and no doubt _dry _even though it should have gotten a nosebleed. "I have a nosebleed!"

Aria sighed, her racing heart slowing down once her mind realized that _no, _she wasn't going to be killed. Again.

_and again and again and again and again —_

"Miku," she spoke slowly, clearly, looking pointedly at the girl, "we both know that we don't bleed." The girl slowly slid her hand down and frowned, clearly displeased that her trick was seen through. She _tsked_ childishly and turned away resolutely, keen on ignoring yet still standing up with the stack of textbooks. Aria thought that she was going to just walk away, but when Miku's back hit the wall and stayed there, she smiled, the corners of her lips tugging up.

"I am not waiting for you all day, you know!"

=-x-=

.

.

.

=-x-=

"I will not be waiting for you." Rin paused to slice off a piece of meat from her steak before continuing. "That was what I said twenty minutes earlier when I asked for you to come down for dinner."

"I'm sure you had a wrong definition of _ask_ then. If I recall, knocking briefly on someone's door before walking away _does not _imply _ask. _Do you need a dictionary?" He pulled the seat back, mentally cursing when the legs got caught in the carpet.

"No no, I couldn't _possibly _ask someone like you to find the dictionary. I am afraid you would only retrieve a magazine since all books are the same to you."

"Oh, I'm sure even a _magazine _would have the definition of something as simple as _ask. _Then again, I don't expect you to be even able to find it."

"The same goes to you as well. I am not even sure if you could recognize what a _book _is."

"Well I'm not sure if you even have the brain cells to read."

The _shfff _of cutlery against steak brought them back to their senses, reminded them that their _parents _were present to watch their childish squabbles and they were not at all pleased at this immature display. Len immediately shut up and concentrated on cutting the stupid piece of meat, smirking when he looked up to find his sister frowning, not happy that she didn't get the last say. _In your face! That'll show your meager brain cells. _

She must have activated twin telepathy somehow because the hand that was clenching the steak knife whitened and he had no doubt that in her mind, she was summoning up a list of _100 ways to kill you brother_. (Actually, make that _101 ways _because she was probably adding _killing with a steak knife during dinner _to the list. He really could guess what she was thinking.)

"Rin, I understand there's a new transfer student?" Their mother addressed Rin and she snapped to attention, back straighter than before if that was even possible, and nodded. His sister had always aspired to become a woman like their mother — strong, strict, beautiful, graceful...blah blah blah — the epitome of women (apparently, according to her diary).

"There has. In fact, there have been a total of fourteen transfer students." He perked up, interested in the conversation now. The sudden influx of students was strange, especially so in this small neighborhood school, not to mention the boring act of moving into this small town. Father _hmmed_, and Len blinked, surprised to find the head of the family interested in such a mundane matter. After all, their father was never interested in anything school-related, preferring to leave such matter into their mother's hands. (Which was probably also why Rin was the more, ah, lovable one.) And he couldn't picture his father being curious about school when for the last ten years he showed no interest in anything except for his business and spiritual matters.

Their father believed in gods, and perhaps that was why he planted all those _sakaki _shrubs, Len realized. After all, these plants were sacred in the _Shinto_ religion, and the town had plenty of _Shinto _shrines, didn't it? Len himself passed by a few shrines usually when he was walking to school (unless it was raining because he disliked walking down staircases in the rain).

(It was just bad.)

"I do hope that you will take care of them properly, Rin. This would make up for you missing out on the President seat." Leave it to their mother to drop insults like it was nothing, and he could see that it affected his sister, from the subtle tightening of knife and the slight wrinkle in her brows. As much as he appreciated the mutual hate they had for each other, he couldn't help but feel an inkling of pity. Mother had been harsh on her when the results for the Student Council President seat came in.

_Harsh wasn't the word to describe the screams during the night._

"Yes, _Mother_." Her unclipped hair was covering her eyes now, but twin telepathy told him that there was anger and disgust swirling beneath those cerulean depths. Both twins _disliked _their mother — and it wasn't just because of the way she treated him. At least that was something they had in common, whether they wanted or not.

"I'm done," the clank of knife and fork against empty plate announced his exit from the stressful conversation, and surprisingly, his father's too. He blinked, staring at his father's cold blue eyes, still surprised. Perhaps even his father felt that such a conversation was too hazy, touched on topics too close to heart — who knew, maybe he _did _have some kind of fatherly feelings for them. That was until his father spoke. It had been such a long time since Len heard the head of the family speak without a shred of distaste (towards his incompetent son).

"Don't scramble up things of the past, Maika. Rin here is guilty enough as it is. I'm sure she'll work hard...won't she?" The sentence was directed at Rin but his father's gaze shifted minutely in his direction, the underlying hint clear as day for Len.

It seemed that the gift to insult people by dropping hints ran in their family.

He bit down hard on his bottom lip as he climbed the stairs to his room (and his freedom). Just when he thought that father and son had something in common the father just _had _to shatter everything into dust. Just like always.

But he should have learnt not to expect anything. He should have learnt.

* * *

_A/N: Miku finally appears! What is with the Kagamine family? What is the relationship between IA (Aria) and Rei? And Miku? And Len? And basically every single character? _

_...As if I'm going to tell. /winks_


End file.
